By Jim Fedele, CBET
I am lucky that I now have supply chain support that reviews quotes for pricing and standard configuration. The support is very helpful in ensuring we are getting all the discounts and benefits that are due to us as part of our purchasing agreements. However, even with this layer of support, there is still a “jagged line” between what the user expects to get and what the vendor is supplying.
Users are excited to be getting new equipment and salespeople are happy to make the sale. There is a certain euphoria during the quoting phase. In my mind, the salesperson’s job is to match the quote to the user’s expectations. There is often a lot more needed than just the device, like how it will be mounted, does it connect to the network? These items, if not included, can be costly and will delay the purchase or install. I have tried avoiding the situation where the users expected something, and it did not ship. Calling the salesperson will typically kill the euphoria of getting new equipment when they state, “Sorry that was not on the quote it will be an extra <insert exorbitant amount here>.” New equipment purchase advice and facilitation are part of my job. Recently, no matter how much pre-work I do there is always a surprise, especially with quote issues. Here is what I have learned. I hope it helps you minimize your pain.
It has been my experience, that biomedical engineering departments may or may not (it is about 50/50 based on the people I have spoken to) be involved with the quote process when it comes to new equipment. After all, isn’t that what purchasing is supposed to do with assistance from the department head? I learned the hard way a long time ago that knowing what’s on the quote will avoid problems for me. Since the biomedical department is “responsible” for the medical equipment, any and all issues end up in my lap. Although reviewing quotes are not my favorite task, it is a preventive measure I take to keep unplanned issues from spoiling my day. In addition, it has become quite a valuable service for my customers too.
Reviewing a new equipment quote can be time consuming; I rarely have seen any two that are alike. Especially lately, quotes seem to be complicated build lists with terms and words that do not match easily to what a customer wants. This makes it very difficult to know if there are omissions or extra items. I find it much like looking at a new car quote, to get a certain feature, you must by package A, to get that feature you must buy package A and B, it almost seems purposefully complicated.
A simple example I have is we recently purchased a telemetry system, when we trialed the units, every telemetry pack had an ECG cable, a Spo2 cable, a bed clamp and a battery charger. To me, this looked like five items. On the quote it was 10 lines because they listed every part of the cable and charger, then they add software revisions, etcetera. It is really kind of crazy.
The salesperson can alleviate a lot of the confusion. If the salesperson is knowledgeable and motivated, they typically are very helpful in understanding the quote. However, there are multiple obstacles that seem to get in the way of this solution. Since many salespeople are self-employed contractors for the OEM, they do not actually write the quote. It is written at the corporate office. This creates another opportunity for mistakes and problems. I have had salespeople admit that they find the quote documents cumbersome and confusing too. Also, contracted salespeople usually sell multiple devices and are rarely an expert on any of them. That being said, I have had my issues with dedicated OEM salespeople too. As long as you are dealing with people there are going to be good ones and bad ones, you just have to work through that.
What can a biomed do to ensure quotes are accurate and complete? The first thing I ask the salesperson to provide is a simplified quote or document that summarizes all the parts and systems. I meet with the users without the salesperson present to discuss openly what is needed. I ask them questions like how they envision the room lay out and how is the workflow going to change? My goal is to identify mounting issues and operational expectations that need to be addressed.
Then, I meet with the salesperson to go over the quote line by line with the simplified document to ensure everything is included. This part can be the most challenging. Do not be afraid to ask questions about items that do not seem to belong. Recently, we got a quote on an imaging suite and the vendor included a complete hemodynamic monitoring system even though there was another system in the room. When asked about the addition, they told me they were asked to quote everything. After verifying with the users, we were able to strike the system from the quote. It saved us $124,000.
Another pitfall is that once the quote is completed, purchasing will negotiate the final price down. This can cause unexpected changes to the quote as the salesperson feels the pressure of meeting his margin and making the sale. I once had a salesperson convert half the equipment on a quote to a one-year warranty – from the five-year warranty they were touting as an edge over the competition. I never knew the change was made until we needed a repair and was informed that it only had a one-year warranty. We were going to have to pay for the repair. When I questioned the salesperson, he said he did it because of purchasing and could not undo it. At that time, (a year and a half later) he wasn’t too motivated to help. Needless to say, we never bought another device from that salesperson again.
I suggest that every biomedical manager be actively involved with the equipment quote process. I think your customers will find it very valuable to have another set of eyes looking over the quotes to ensure it is accurate. Also, once you get good at reviewing them; it is fun to find those opportunities to save your facility money and avoid trouble for your department.
Jim Fedele, CBET, is the senior director of clinical engineering for UPMC. He magazines six Susquehanna Health hospitals. He has 30 years of HTM experience and has worked for multiple service organizations. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of TechNation or MD Publishing.
